Combined carving-fork guard and knife-sharpener



Patented Mar. 21, I899.

, C. HULYLAND. COMBINED CARVING FORK GUARD AND KNIFE SHARPENER.

(Application filed Nov. 20, 1897.)

(N0 Model.)

lln'rrnn STATES PATENT FFICE.

CHARLES I-IOLYLAND, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 621,342, dated March 21, 1899.

Application filed November 20,1897. fierlal No. 659,319. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GHARLEs HOLYLAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county .of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in a Combined Carving- Fork Guard and Knife-Sharpener, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to carving-forks, and more especially to the guards usually pivoted on the back of the shank of such forks.

The object of my invention is to provide a carving-fork with a combined guard and knife-sharpener of such construction that the person carving may sharpen the carvingknife without laying down the fork.

A further object of my invention is to provide improved means for adjusting and securing the guard in position and for adjusting and holding in position that portion of the guard upon which the sharpener is mounted.

With these objects in View my invention consists in a carving-fork provided with a guard pivoted thereto in the usual manner and having such guard constructed to serve as a knife-sharpener.

My invention further consists in a carvingfork provided with the usual guard pivoted to the shank to oscillate in line with the shank, the outer portion of the guard being swiveled in the inner portion thereof and constructed to form a knife-sharpener.

My invention further consists in a carvingfork provided with the usual guard pivoted to the shank, a knife-sharpener swiveled therein,improved means for holding the guard in its upper or lower position, and means for adjusting and holding the swiveled knifesharpener in either adjusted position.

My invention further consists in the improved construction, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and afterward specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In'order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention most nearly appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View illustrating a carving-fork equipped with my invention, the parts beingin position for use as a guard. Fig. 2 is av'iew of the same in side elevation, partly in section, the parts being adjusted in position to use the knife-sharpener. Fig. 3 is a perspective sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, illustrating part of the shank of the fork and the lugs in which theguard is pivoted. Fig.4. is a detail sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2, illustrating the means for holding the guard raised or lowered. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the main body portion of the guard.- Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view illustrating the knife-sharpener detached. Fig. 7 is a detail perspective sectional view, on an enlarged scale, illustrating the interior construction of the upper end of the main body of the guard and the lug on the swiveled stem.

Like numerals of reference mark the same parts wherever they occur in the various figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 10 is the handle, 11 the shank, and 12 the prongs, of a carving-fork, all of which may be of any ordinary or approved construction, the shank being provided with lugs 13 to receive the pivotal pin 14 of the main body 15 of a guard,

such guard being provided with depending legs 16, which when the guard is raised and not in use serve in connection with the rear end of the handle to support the fork in position upon the table with the prongs raised therefrom.

The main body of the guard is adjustable upon itspivot 14. from the position shown in Fig. 1 to a position upon and substantially parallel with the shank of the fork, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and is held in either of said positions by means of a springplug 17 seated in arecess 18 in the shank and normally impelled outward by means of a spring 19, coiled around it, said plug engag ing either of two recesses 20 in the inner side of one of the legs 16, according as the guard is adjusted in its raised or lower position, the outer end of the plug being rounded and the recesses 20 being correspondingly shaped, whereby the adjustment from one position to the other may be made by simply moving the guard in the desired direction.

The main body of the guard is hollow, as most clearly shown in Fig. '7, that part 21 of the bore at the outer end being of a size to accommodate a stem 22, while the main body 23 of the bore is of a size to accommodate a mil-led nut 2a, which engages upon the outer end of the stem 22 and holds in position a spring 25, coiled around the stem and hearing at one end against the nut and at the other against the shoulders 26 at the junction of the two bores 21 and 23, the object of the spring being to normally retain the stem in its inner position.

The stem 22 is attached to and forms part of the outer portion of the guard, which is swiv-.

eled in the bore 21,as described, the other parts of the outer portion of the guard consisting of a disk-like part 27 of a diameter equal to that of the main body 15, a flat portion 28, two prongs or forked arms 29, and a lug 30, projecting laterally from the stem 22. Lugs 31 project inwardly from these forked arms 29, in which are pivoted knife-sharpening disks 32, of steel or analogous material.

The bore of the upper part of the main body 15 is enlarged at 33 to a sufficient depth to receive and accommodate the lug 30 on the stem 22. This enlargement of the bore is of a sufficient extent laterally to permit of the movement of the lug 30 through an arc of ninety degrees, and at each end of theenlargement a vertical groove 31 is formed, into which the lug drops and by which it is secured at the respective ends of its move- -ment.

To assemble the parts of the device, the main body 15, with its legs 16, is pivotally secured to the shank 11 by passing the pivotal pin 14 through the legs and the lugs 13 on the shank, which will bring the plug 17 and recesses 20 in the same curved line, concentric with the pivotal point, whereby the guard may be adjusted and held in either of its two positions, as before described.

The outer portion of the guard is swiveled in the main body by adjusting the stem 22 in the bore 21, placing the spring in position thereon in the bore 23 of the main body 15, and threading the nut 24 upon the end of the stem to hold the spring in position between the nut and the shoulders 26 to exert its normal pressure (the extent of which may be adj usted by screwing the nut in or out) to cause the stem to be normally held in its inner position and cause the lug 30 to drop into either of the Vertical grooves 34 when brought in line with them. By means of this construction the outer portion of the guard, constructed to form the knife-sharpener, may be adj usted and held in position at right angles to the stem 11 of the carving-fork, as shown in Fig. 1, in which position the whole device acts simply as a guard when down in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and as props or legs when up in the position shown in Fig. 1. \Vhen, however, it is desired to make use of the knife-sharpener, the outer portion of the guard carrying the knife sharpening disks is pulled out suiiiciently far to disengage the lug 30 of the stem 22 from the vertical groove 34, in which it then rests, when the sharpener may be turned on the pin 22 as a pivot to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2 parallel to the length of the shank of the carving-fork, the lug 30 being drawn by the action of the spring 25 into the opposite vertical groove 34 when that adjustment is reached. It will be obvious that these adjustments can be made Without the necessity of the person using the fork releasing his hold on the handle thereof or setting the fork down, and the adjustment shown in full lines in Fig. 2 having been made, the fork being grasped in the left hand, the earving-knife,held in the right hand, can be sharpened by drawing it between the disks in the manner usual with this class of knife-Sharpeners.

The utility of my invention will be apparent from the foregoing description of the construetion and operation, and it will be obvious that in a carving-set in which the fork is equipped with my invention the steel will be entirely unnecessary and the process of sharpening will be greatly facilitated.

\Vhile I have illustrated and described what I consider to be eflicient means for carrying out my invention, I do not wish to be understood as restricting myself to the exact details of construction and arrangement shown and described, but hold that any slight changes and variations, such as might suggest themselves to the ordinary mechanic, would properly fall within the limit and scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. The combination with the shank of a carving-fork, of a guard the main body of which is pivoted to said shank, and the outer portion swiveled on the main body and carrying knife-sharpening disks, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the shank of a carving-fork, of the main body of the guard pivoted thereto, the outer portion swiveled in the main body and carrying knife-sharpening disks, and means for adjusting and holding the outer portion in different positions with relation to the main body, substantially as described.

3. A carving-fork, in combination with the main body of a guard pivoted thereto, an outer pronged or forked portion swiveled in the main body and carrying knife-sharpening disks, means for holding the main body of the guard in its upper or lower position, and means for adjusting and holding the outer portion of the guard in different posi tions with relation to the main body thereof, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the main body, 15, of the guard, provided with the bores 21 and 23 of different diameters, the outer portion of either of the vertical grooves 34 of said main body by the action of the spring, substantially 10 as described.

CHARLES HOLYLAND.

Witnesses:

NEWTON K. DELAVAN, HENRY F. WEAVER. 

